1/13/13

Every year on January 10 I ask the husband what kind of cake he wants for his birthday tomorrow.
And every year, like clockwork he responds with "crumb cake".
What kind of crumb cake I ask.
He says "ahh, it don't matter"
:::thud:::
Sometimes I hate being married to a non-foodie.
The answer I'm expecting is:
"Oh I would love a kicked up devils food cake with toasted marshmallow frosting, crunchy honey nut-peanut butter filling....all with dark chocolate-caramel ganache and freshly whipped cream!"
Right?
Good answer indeed.
So I ask him if I can kick up the crumb cake with something new and fun, yet totally flavorful?
He says, "you won't make it savory will you?"
Of course my mind goes "ohhh what a great idea!" LOL
I respond, like I do every year, with 'no, it will tastes great--you love it every year and never complain'.
And there is where the idea of cookie butter in the crumb cake came in.
Hubby hasn't a clue what cookie butter is--he thinks its just peanut butter anywho.
Did he love it?
Yes he did.
Did he know it was cookie butter?
No.
But he knew there was cream cheese in there.
Progress for a non-foodie.....

We will put down rows of cream cheese, then cookie butter, swirl the two a bit, then fill in the gaps with crumbs!
Swirl or not. It's up to you.
Fill in the gaps with crumbs.
Make sure there are crumbs on all gaps!
Looks good enough to eat raw doesn't it?
Mmmm, can you see the perfect ratio of cream cheese to cookie butter to crumb?
So, yeah, this would be the ultimate indulgence in NY style crumb cake.

In
a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients, pour melted butter over mixture,
and toss with a rubber spatula until large crumbs form. Set aside.

cream
cheese mixture

8
ounces cream cheese, room temp.

1
large egg yolk

4
ts white sugar

For
the cream cheese mixture:

Mix
all in a bowl (really well) until ready to use. Set aside.

For
the cookie butter:

½ -
¾ cup cookie butter

Cook
Notes:

The
crumb topping makes a lot. If you don’t
like a lot of crumb on your cake, then half it.

The
cake dough is sticky and thick; so it will be hard to spread into pan. I use patience and wet fingers to spread the
dough. Make sure to get all the corners.

Also,
the cake when baked is thin. This is a
NY style cake, which means more toppings than cake.

The
cake cooks up quick because the batter is thin.
Please check at the 20 minute mark.

Looks
for light golden edges. It will be hard
to tell if this is done because of all the cream cheese and crumbs. But I’ve found after baking this several
times that 20-23 minutes is really all it needs.

For
cake:

Place
rack in center of oven, and heat oven to 350°.

Lightly
butter a 9 x 13 baking pan and dust with flour, and tap to remove excess. (I’ve
also used the Pam with Flour and it worked just fine). Set aside.

In
a medium bowl, sift together 2 ¼ cups flour, add in the granulated sugar,
baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together egg,
butter, half & half, canola oil, and vanilla.

Using
a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture.

Spread
batter evenly into prepared pan, and set aside. (to keep batter from sticking
to your hand or spoon, just wet or oil your fingers or a spoon and spread evenly
throughout pan).

The
batter should be about half an inch high.
It will cook/rise to an inch thick.

Next
put on the cream cheese mixture; I did this in vertical lines in the pan.

And
on the other sides of the cream cheese lines I added in a line of cookie butter.

If
you want to pipe the cream cheese mixture on that’s fine. I just used my hands.

If
you want slight swirls, take a chopstick and gently swirl the opposite of the
lines.

Next
add on the crumbs.

I
added the crumbs in the areas where there were no cream cheese lines or cookie
butter lines (see photo).

Then
transfer pan to oven, and bake for 12 minutes, rotate pan. Then cook another 10-
12 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Check cake at 20-23 minute
mark for sure.

I laughed so hard when I read your birthday cake story. My husband is a duplicate, except it it Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting. I am a foodie with a degree in Hotel Restaurant Management, a pastry chef for many years, and a die hard food lover. My husband eats no vegetables, only watermelon in the fruit world, and no nuts. Hates pork. Kind of likes steak. No fish, ever. We have been very happily married for 32 years. Love conquers all! Trying your cake this weekend, it looks fabulous.

I can't tell you how happy this recipe makes me! You posted a picture on FB yesterday and I've been checking the blog frequently since then to see when the recipe will be posted! I am making this ASAP!! :)

I've been tempted to buy some cookie butter, but wasn't sure it would actually make it into anything I might bake... you know how the spoon just finds it's way into the jar and all... but, this coffee cake might be the recipe that will make me buy a jar! Yum!

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Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com